The VC 24/48 exposure system is being validated for the exposure process of three-dimensional, organotypic cell culture inserts with CS and with aerosols generated from HNB tobacco products and e-liquids.
They aerosol deposition of different CS concentrations as determined by three different approaches were assessed and compared : (1) a WST-1 colorimetric assay; (2) the determination of eight carbonyls trapped in PBS; and (3) QCM-determined particle mass deposition.

Monodispersed solid particles were used to investigate experimental measurement of deposition efficiency, variability of deposition efficiency within and between rows and uniformity of deposition across all cell culture inserts of the Vitrocell 24/48 ALI in vitro exposure system.

Previous experimental setups shows the effects of e-liquids on cell viability (first layer), followed by investigating the potential mechanisms of toxicity elicited by e-liquids (second layer) and finally assessing the impacts of aerosols (third layer). In this present work shows how the three-layer framework is leveraged to evaluate the potential toxicity and biological effects of the MESH Classic Tobacco and Base e-liquids/aerosols compared with those of 3R4F CS.

09 March 2019, Hilton Inner Harbour Hotel, Baltimore, USA

Following the VITROCELL® User Group Meeting 2018 in San Antonio, Texas, USA, international scientists from Europe, Japan, Korea and USA reconvened in March 2019.

The informal event organized into short presentations and posters was followed by open discussions. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss the latest developments of VITROCELL®, to exchange your experience in working with the equipment and to meet other fellow researchers.
The meeting took place prior to the international Society of Toxicology 58th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 10 – 14, 2018, in Baltimore, USA - one of the largest international conferences related to toxicology.

Focus of the event was to share VITROCELL® activities since the last meeting, to exchange latest research results, to give an update on VITROCELL’s participation in major research programs as well as the presentation of new products for 2019.

The impacts of an acute exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) and to aerosol from a novel electronic cigarette (EC) device using MESH™ technology were assessed using human organotypic buccal epithelial cultures and small airway epithelial cultures. A paired design was implemented: in parallel to the exposure to CS or EC aerosol, cultures were also exposed to air in the same exposure module. Tissue damage was not seen in cultures exposed to the IQOS MESH™ Classic Tobacco aerosol despite resulting in greater concentrations of deposited nicotine. In buccal cultures, CS and IQOS MESH™ Classic Tobacco aerosol elicited different infammatory response.

Human organotypic buccal and small airway cultures were exposed in two independent exposure systems (Vitrocell® 24/48), one for 3R4F reference cigarette smoke and the other for e-cigarette aerosol exposures to summarize the exposure-induced impacts into four main cellular processes: the cell fate, cell proliferation, cell stress, and inflammatory process.

Manufacturers invest in nonanimal tests to evaluate health risks of e-cigarettes and other next-generation tobacco products

c&en, Volume 96, Issue 43

Britt E. Erickson

The complexity of next-generation tobacco products has increased by a number of factors since FDA was given responsibility to regulate tobacco. Testing e-liquids with animals is not practical, economically and not that accurate. The Vitrocell system generates airborne materials from test products, such as smoke from reference cigarettes and vapor from e-cigarettes, in a manner that simulates how a person would puff. This artcile shows, how IIVS scientists use human donor tissues, obtained from organs, to create cell cultures and in vitro test systems.

Highlights
•Different smoke constituents are delivered with different efficiencies during in vitro exposures.
•This indicates considerable differences in the composition of the applied and the absorbed smoke.
•The composition of the applied smoke is of limited value for describing the exposure.

This paper successfully presents the geometry and characteristic dimensions of the two exposure systems: Vitrocell 24/48 and Vitrocell AMES 48. A computational modeling of aerosol transport and deposition shows the deposition efficiency.